


Thank You Miss Carolin

by Aiambia



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Season/Series 13 Spoilers, post-season 13
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-12
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-04-26 00:58:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4983709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aiambia/pseuds/Aiambia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was like raising a child.</p><p>A big, muscular, 6'4" child.</p><p>She swore she'd kill Church if he were here. She longed to be back in the field with a gun in her hand, armor on her back, and killing enemies rather than paying bills and making sure she and Caboose got to work on time and having to make dinner and care for the garden and chickens.</p><p>Why did she even have a garden and chickens? </p><p> </p><p>After the battle, no one was the same. So, Carolina took Caboose and left, as per Church's request...sort of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chickens

**Author's Note:**

> WARNING: SEASON 13 SPOILERS AHEAD

             _"Carolina,_

_I'm sorry I couldn't stay. I wanted to be here with you and everyone, but  you know I had to do this. There was no other way for all of them to survive if I didn't. You've lost so much, and now I'm leaving, and I know I can't do anything to make up for that. But you've got to stay strong for me, okay?_

_I'm leaving you with Theta. He's not quite the Theta that you remember, but he'll definitely be you trust and hope when you feel like you can't get out of bed in the morning. I know you don't like to trust other people, but please try._

_After all, the team needs you. They're your family now. Go to them when you need help because, God, I know you're gonna be stubborn and try to do it by yourself, but they can help you. Simmons is great with a computer, and Wash and Grif are second to none with battle plans. Leave the morale to Sarge and Tucker, and...._

_...and whatever you do, at least promise me you'll take care of Caboose? I may've left him with Iota, but the poor guy needs someone human to help him. As much as Iota and Delta can explain it to him, he's still gonna need someone to let him know everything will get better, even though he's sad. The AIs can't do that. I know it sounds stupid, but hey, I can't just leave my best friend like that right?_

_Thanks Sis, I know I can always count on you...._

_....Goodbye."_

 

 

* * *

 

 

How did this happen?

 

            Church trusted her to take care of Caboose. Church trusted her to take care of a man child. She had no clue how he did it for so many years, but if it's what he wanted, then she'd do it. So, how exactly did she get into this mess?

            Well, after the battle, Caboose was in a coma for a few weeks. So, she stayed by his bedside. Everyone else was busy with their own things, but she stayed with Caboose because it's what Church wanted.

            When he woke up almost a month later, she didn't hesitate to take him away from all of it. She packed their bags, ensured the AIs wouldn't transmit their locations, and left. Of course, Caboose wouldn't leave without Freckles, or without leaving a goodbye video.

            After that, she made sure they disappeared. No one would find them, no one would know who they were. She could take care of Caboose and made sure he was never hurt again. Sure she could easily do that on Chorus, after all she wasn't a freelancer for nothing, but it was safer this way. In some distant planet in the farthest corner of the universe, she set up a small house, in a small town, with a little garden and a few chickens.

           

            What was she doing?

 

            A garden? Chickens? _A house?_ She'd been a soldier for so long, she's forgotten how to live a "normal" life...whatever that was. So, as Caboose chased the chickens around the backyard, she watched from the kitchen window, wondering what the hell she was doing.

            Everything felt so new. Having a normal job and a normal house and a normal life...well, _almost_ a normal life. Nothing was ever normal with Caboose. She'd found him crying in the bathroom, wrapped in his blanket during quite a few thunderstorms and snapped at him every time he decided the walls were a good place to color.

            It was like raising a child.

            A big, muscular, 6'4" child.

            She swore she'd kill Church if he were here. She longed to be back in the field with a gun in her hand, armor on her back, and killing enemies rather than paying bills and making sure she and Caboose got to work on time and having to make dinner and care for the garden and chickens.

            Why did she even have a garden and chickens?

            Oh.

            Right.

            It was Caboose's idea, supported by Freckles, Iota and Theta.

 

 

            The back door opened and Carolina ran her hands through her hair as she began to survey the damage that Caboose inflicted on himself this time. Both knees were scraped, his clothes were covered in grass stains, dirt, and feathers, and there was a dopey grin on his face.

            "Miss Carolin, I got the eggs!" He proclaimed proudly, setting them down in a bowl on the counter before sitting down at the kitchen table. Carolina automatically reached for the first aid box (a kit was _way_ too small considering how often Caboose hurt himself) and kneeled to start working on those scraped knees.

            "Caboose, what have I told you about getting the eggs?" Annoyance and frustration obvious in her voice.

            Caboose looked up at the ceiling guiltily, "You...you said I have to reach into the nests for the eggs and that they will be under the chickens."

            "But?"

            "But-but they were under the chickens! How can I get the eggs if the chickens sit on the eggs and it-it's just very frustrating and they're scary when they start flapping their wings and making noises at me, so I chased them out of the nests so I could get the eggs without them getting feathers all over me, but then the mean one with the red hat started chasing me around the yard and I fell and I am sorry I scraped my knees....again..."

            Carolina sighed and wiped her face with a hand. Yup, this is just like taking care of a five-year-old. She looked up, but Caboose was still staring up at the ceiling, hands fidgeting in his lap. She took an arm and began applying antiseptic.

            "But I got all the eggs this time! A-and none of them are broken or cracked, and I didn't get any of the gooey insides all over me!"

            Carolina paused and looked up at him again, but his eyes remained on the ceiling.

            "I'm sorry I get hurt all the time, Miss Carolin. I...I just...Thank you for not yelling at me."

            Her face softened at the comment and she stood to count the eggs he brought in.

 

            _"And remember Caboose, since I'm not here anymore, you have to look out for everyone for me okay? Especially Carolina. If you make her mad, then I'll be mad too, but if she's happy, then I'm happy."_

            She recalled every time she heard Church's voice float out from Caboose's room as he replayed his message over and over again. They were both trying their hardest, and it really wasn't fair of her to be mad.

            Moving to the counter, Carolina looked into the small basket she kept there for their daily eggs. She counted eight today instead of the usual six, and as Caboose said, none of them were broken or cracked. She turned at stared at his blonde mop of hair for a moment. He was due for a haircut soon, and if she couldn't find a place in town, then she'd have to do it.

            She reached out and ruffled that blonde mop, knocking his head forward in the process. "Good job. Now go change your clothes."

            Caboose turned to give her a big, bright smile before running off into another room of the house, drawers and doors opening and closing loudly as he looked for clothes.

            Carolina turned her attention back to the kitchen, placing two eggs in the fridge, and used the others to start on omelets. The pan sizzled with various ingredients and the smell of food floated through the house. Moments later, loud footsteps raced into the kitchen, skidding to a halt. A chair was noisily pulled from the table, legs screeching against the tile floors, and again as Caboose scooted himself back into the table.

            Then it was quiet.

           

            She trained him well.

           

           

            Surprisingly, a bit of in-your-face-yelling helped her set some ground rules with Caboose. Given, he didn't listen to him all the time, but being able to consistently comply with 37 out of 64 rules isn't _terrible_. At least it's over half of them...right?

            When she turned around to set the plates down, Caboose had already set the table with a fork, knife, and napkin for Carolina, and a fork with a napkin tucked into his shirt for himself. His head laid on the table, and he pouted, gripping the fork tightly in one hand. All that chicken-chasing made him hungry.

            Carolina placed his plate in front of him. One thing she learned almost immediately was to never trust Caboose with anything that could be considered a weapon, even plastic knives. She'd taken to pre-cutting all of his food for him. It may be a hassle, but it beat having to deal with him cutting himself with a knife, or taking forever to eat his food and getting it everywhere because he lacked a knife.

            He munched happily on the omelet, carefully picking which pieces to eat in what order. After all, he did a good job with the eggs today, and whenever he did a good job, Carolina usually rewarded him. Today, his reward was a crude picture of a chicken formed with cut-up pieces of omelet.

            "Thank you Miss Carolin!" Bits of food flew from his mouth, landing all over the table and Carolina's face.

            She rolled her eyes and wiped her face clean before starting on her own omelet. This is absolutely ridiculous, taking care of a man child. She should be ashamed that a soldier such as herself would stoop to such simplicity, and become so.... _domesticated_.

            Caboose was a pain in the ass, and every day she questioned why Church tasked her with taking care of him. She questioned why she decided to honor his request and take care of his "best friend".

 

            She hated it, she told herself every day.

            "Did you remember to feed the chickens?"

 

            She told herself that right now as Caboose rambled on about how the chickens were doing.

            "Yes! I made sure Carl and Jojo and Deborah and Cow and even Balloon got the corn stuff you said to feed them."

 

            She told herself that as she let a small smile slip on to her face.

            "Good job, Caboose."


	2. Accidents Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Accidents happen. 
> 
> Especially if you're Caboose and you've had a nightmare.

 

 

Why did Caboose lock himself in the bathroom?

 

Again?

 

            Carolina pounded on the door for what felt like the millionth time, begging the man to come out so they could talk about what happened. Instead, she got a resounding "NO!" and she jumped back when something hit the other side of the door.

 

            She let out tired groan and looked over her shoulder to the two AI programs hovering cautiously behind her. "Care to help?"

 

            "I'm not sure that's a good idea," Iota replied. "He doesn't need _us_ to help him. Right now, he needs reassurance from _you_."

 

            "Uh...Trust Iota? I'm not really good with this kind of thing...." Theta moved behind Iota when Carolina's gaze shifted to him.

 

            The red-head rolled her eyes and leaned back against the door. Was it really so bad that he had to lock himself in the bathroom? Sure, wetting the bed at his age was embarrassing, and maybe she yelled at him a little bit, but Caboose locking himself in the bathroom was just immature.

 

            ...Which is appropriate considering he's a man child, but that 's besides the point. She'd already told him she's not mad, so why won't he just come out of the bathroom and talk to her? Damn it, Carolina was really tempted to just leave him there and go back to sleep. At three in the morning, it had already been two and a half hours since Caboose woke up soaked and crying. He was mumbling something about a nightmare and sobbing quietly to himself by the time Carolina walked into the room, and when she realized what happened....well, she sorta lost it.

 

            Caboose ran to the bathroom and locked the door, refusing to come out. So Carolina did what any sensible "parent" would do and cleaned up. The mattress was dry, the sheets were clean, and she had a fresh set of underwear and pajamas waiting for him, if Caboose would just open the damn bathroom door!

 

            She slid down the door to sit on the floor and rested her head in her hands. If this is what it was like after only a few months, how was she going to deal with this for the next few years? Maybe they could just go back. She'd take Caboose back to Chorus, or wherever the other Reds and Blues are, dump him there and go on her merry way.

 

            But as her thoughts of abandonment were broken by quiet sobs through the door. As much as she wanted to just leave and be done with all of this, Church's words nagged at her in the back of her mind. " _promise me you'll take care of Caboose."_

 

"Easier said than done," she whispered to herself.

 

            "Carolina, you should really talk to him," Theta's voice floated through the air. She opened her eyes to find the little purple and red AI floating in front of her.

 

            "I thought you weren't good at this kind of thing," she replied, sleepy eyes struggling to stay open.

 

            "I-I'm not; you're right," the AI admitted. "But Iota's pretty good at knowing how to work with Caboose, and I think he's right too...I also think Caboose could tell you what he needs. Y-you should listen to him and try to do things his way."

 

            Carolina let her eyes close as she thought about Theta's words. Listen to Caboose. Do things his way. It went against every fiber in her being, but she knew Theta was right. She was often so stubborn that she only ever did things her way and became quite angry when forced to do otherwise.

 

            But things haven't exactly been her way since she moved in with Caboose. The sleep schedule she tried to establish became Star-Gaze-Thrusdays, and Stay-Up-Late-Saturdays. Her simple, quick breakfast had been replaced by a daily helping of three-eggs plus bacon, cereal, coffee (apple juice for Caboose), and whatever vegetables she didn't burn while cooking. Her walls turned into crayon murals.

 

            If she could deal with all of that, then maybe trying to do things Caboose's way wasn't such a stretch. After all, it kinda seemed like that's what she did on a daily basis anyway.

 

            "Caboose, please come out," she called. "It's okay that you...that you had an _accident_. I promise I'm not mad at you, and I won't yell at you again. But you've got to open the door so I can make sure you're clean and changed and back in bed." She spoke as calmly as she could manage, attempting to coax Caboose out rather than spook him.

 

            "But...but my bed is still dirty," it took a moment for Caboose to reply, and when he did, his voice was hoarse and tried.

 

            "I cleaned it for you. The sheets are washed and your mattress is dry. Just _please_ open the door."

 

            "...I had a scary dream," he admitted quietly. "Church was there, and Tucker was there, and Sarge, and Gruff, and Simon, and Lieutenant McMuffin, and Mr. Washingtub. A-and they all said that you hated me and wanted me to go away. Especially Church. And then y-you said you didn't like me anymore and that I can't take care of the chickens and that I have to go to the closet and live there forever without any lights on so that it will be dark and scary and I don't want to live in the closet without lights! Please don't make me go there! I'm sorry Miss Carolin, I won't do it again. I can hold it. I promise I'll be good!"

 

            Carolina heard the door unlock, and she stood, opening the door slowly. Caboose sat right by the door in his soiled pajamas, sobbing and hiccupping as quietly as he could manage. She took his hand and stood him up, then silently stripped off his clothes and guided him into the shower.

 

            After the first few times he walked out of the bathroom without clothes, she became desensitized to the idea of a naked Caboose. She washed him gently, scrubbing his back and hair while he cleaned his "special places", then rinsed him off and toweled him dry. Once he was dressed in fresh clothes and tucked back into bed, Carolina spoke to him again.

 

            "I'm not going to leave you, Caboose. I...I trust you not to have another accident, and if you do...well, I promise not to be mad at you." The words felt a bit forced coming out of her mouth, but Caboose visibly relaxed as she spoke.

 

            "Really?"

 

            "Really."

 

            His big doe eyes stared up at her as his usual bright smile replaced the tear-stained face from moments earlier. Carolina was amazed at how a few simple words could put him at ease, knowing it would take so much more for her. Did he really trust her that much?

 

 

            "Thank you, Miss Carolin."

 

 

            His eyes fluttered shut and within a minute or two, his breathing evened out. Carolina turned off the lights and headed back to her own room for the night.

           

 

            "Good night, Caboose."

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Dancing in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, completely forgot this fic existed and that I had a chapter queued?
> 
> I'm probably not going to continue this, but here's that last chapter I had written anyway. Enjoy?

How could he not know something so basic?

 

 

            Carolina looked up from the TV as she heard footsteps running towards her. This was inevitably going to become another round of humoring Caboose with whatever story he _needed_ to tell her. Or cleaning up another mess. She prepared herself for both. As the footsteps rounded the corner, she watched as Caboose ran towards her at full speed, a small card in his hand. As he skidded to a halt in front of her, the card was shoved in her face, effectively blocking out the TV, Caboose, and everything but the letters "ART" in a bright metallic blue.

            "Okay, slow down Caboose. Start from the beginning and go _slowly_." She took the card from his hands, looking over it as Caboose started his story.

            "Well, you see I was at work today and putting the food in the bowls like I was supposed to but some of the dogs got out of their cages. It-it wasn't my fault, someone unlocked them. But then Mr. Birdy helped me catch all of the dogs and Miss Lala said I was really funny and that I should come to her party tomorrow and she said she wanted to dace. And..."

            He trailed off as Carolina finished going over the details listed inside the card. "Miss Lala" (it was probably Lola or Lana, but she didn't know which) had invited Caboose to a house party the next night. Lala and Birdy (or maybe it was Brady?) were good people, but Carolina wasn't so sure it was a good idea for Caboose to go to a party, especially by himself. When she looked at Caboose again, he was fidgeting where he stood, sheepishly looking all around the room.

 

            "What is it Caboose?"

            "Well...Um...you see, there are some people who maybe wanted to go to this party, but...uh...these people also don't kind of want to go because maybe these people don't know how to dance and would not want Miss Lala to be upset that they cannot dance with her...."

            Caboose didn't know how to dance?

            "No. Um...sort of..."

            Crap, she said that out loud.

            "Yeah...you sort of do that a lot and sometimes it's really confusing because I don't know if you're talking to me or Freckles or Iota or Theta."

            ...Okay then...that's nice to know? Also a little unsettling considering everything that goes through her head during the day.

            "Well Caboose, what do you want to do? I could teach you to dance." She stood up from the couch and Caboose's face immediately lit up.

            "Oh yes, thank you! I would like that very much!"

 

            She turned the TV off and pushed the furniture out of the way so they could have some room to dance. Their small living room suddenly seemed big with the couches and coffee tables pushed against the walls. Caboose stood there awkwardly, looking back and forth between Carolina and the furniture, but didn't back away when Carolina offered him her hand.

She positioned them accordingly: one of his hands in hers, and the other on her waist. Carolina called for Theta, telling him to put on some dancing music: the slow kind. Soft tunes floated through the air, and Carolina was a little proud she decided to have the whole house wired with speakers, cameras, computers, and other random tech that the AIs could access.

Carolina began to narrate each step to Caboose: left forward, step together, turn, right back, step together, turn, left forward, step together, turn, and so on and so forth until they picked up a steady rhythm....or as steady as it could be with Caboose tripping over his and Carolina's feet on every step.

As slowly as they went and as many times as Carolina tried to explain it, Caboose kept messing up. The more he messed up, the angrier she got. The angrier she got, the more she yelled at him. The more she yelled at him, the more flustered he became. The more flustered he became, the more he messed up. It was an endless cycle with no end in sight and eventually she needed a break.

"That's it, I'm done!" Carolina shouted, dropping Caboose's arms very suddenly and marching off towards her room.

"W-wait, Miss Carolin!" Caboose called after her. He started to follow her, but stopped short when he caught a glimpse of the anger spread across her face.

\---

Carolina slammed her bedroom door shut and sat at the edge of her bed, gripping her hair in frustration. This really shouldn't be anything new. It's been five months now, she should be used to this. Caboose messed up all the time. There was the times with the chickens, and then the jeep, and his job, and when he had his accident, and she'd been fine throughout all of that. Now that she thinks of it, she's actually doing a bit better than in past times. She didn't jump immediately to yelling at him, rather she tried to help him first. She tried to be patient. It definitely wasn't easy though.

 

Flopping down on the bed completely, she threw and arm over her eyes. Caboose seemed to be doing a little better too. He wasn't as erratic as when they first arrived on the planet. She grimaced at the thought, recalling how he'd look around at everything with such wide, curious eyes, and asked her why they were there and when they'd see everyone again, and how sad he looked when she said they'd probably never see them again.

Surprisingly, he didn't cry. All this time she'd thought Caboose was a big cry baby, but unless he was badly hurt or had a nightmare or something similar, he didn't cry. Tears always threatened to fall from his eyes, but he never let them. Carolina thought it was because of something Church said to him in the video message, but even on Chorus, Caboose never really cried.

The soft sound of music floated into her room through the cracked door. As Carolina lowered her arms from her eyes, she realized there was no longer any light in her room. Had she fallen asleep, or did the sun just go down early? She'd started the dance lesson with Caboose around 4:30, but her clock read 8:21 now.

She stood and stretched and carefully padded out of her room towards the music. The lights in the house were all off save for the living room. The music grew louder as she walked closer and a small smile graced her lips as Caboose came into view.

He danced around the center of the living room, Iota projecting a dancing-guide for his feet onto the floor. He stared at the ground, eyes hard with concentration. He messed up a few times while Carolina watched, and each time he'd groan in frustration, blink back tears that threatened to fall, and tried again.

Left forward, step together, turn. Right back, step together, turn. Left forward, step together, turn. And he finally did it. As the song ended, Caboose stepped into the final position and his faced turned from hard concentration to excited joy. His eyes shot up to meet Carolina's gaze, and the smile faltered a bit.

"M-Miss Carolin!" He seemed nervous as Carolina approached him. "I-I practiced the dancing that you taught me." he said lamely.

"I noticed." Carolina took his left hand in hers and his right automatically went to her waist. That earned another smile from the red head. "Care to show me?"

Without waiting for a response, she began to lead him in a dance. Theta quickly started the next song and it wasn't long before Caboose took over leading. He lead her around the living room a few times in simple circles, eyes fixed on his feet. But they snapped up to meet Carolina's when he heard a soft laugh escape her lips. His own laugh mixed with hers as he twirled her around.

Carolina's smile only grew as she relaxed into his arms. He'd practiced hard, and it showed. It still wasn't perfect. He still stepped on her feet a few times and he still had to look at his own feet to make sure he was doing everything right, but it was much better. Carolina saw a faint shimmer of blue from behind Caboose and rolled her eyes.

Iota was definitely in his implants, helping him not suck at this.

It was totally cheating.

She didn't care.

The big smile on his face and the soft music was enough to make her smile that night. It was reminiscent of everything she'd wished for as a child: dancing around her home in her husband's arms, laughing as the moon watched over them. Only, Caboose wasn't her husband, he was just a friend she vowed to protect. And this wasn't her home, it's just a house they were living in.

As the music slowed, she rested her head on his shoulder, allowing Iota to sway them gently. He was warm. So warm. Maybe it was because of how big he was, but it made her a bit sad. Carolina never thought she'd feel warm like this, she never thought she'd be wrapped in someone's arms like this, but here she was and....and it was just Caboose. It was just a giant man child who scribbled on her walls, and scraped his knees, and still wet the bed....and she didn't mind dancing with him.

 

"Thank you Miss Carolin."

Caboose's voice broke her from her thoughts, soft and a little timid.

"For what?"

"For teaching me to dance."

She laughed a bit. Maybe it wasn't so bad that it was just Caboose.

 

"You're welcome, Caboose."

 

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually supposed to be a spin-off of another fic I'm working on, but that one's not done yet....aaaaannnndddd I wrote this anyway.
> 
> Either way, the story tacks on to the end of season 13 and my fic just fine, so I'll update this with the link when I finally get the other story posted. Meanwhile, enjoy my guilty-pleasure ship: Caboolina!
> 
> You wouldn't think that they'd work, but if you notice how much Carolina cares for Church and relies on him through out the series, it makes sense that once he's gone, she'd do anything he asked of her. The desperation that comes as a result from losing him is perfect to throw her into this situation, plus she kind of acts like team-dad (cause Wash is busy being team-mom). 
> 
> I dunno, I just think it's really cute.


End file.
